Sunday, 27 January 2013

My Own Little RecipesSometimes I get myself into a little cooking and baking mode, and I'm feeling brave enough to take a recipe and add my own special twists to it, and see how they come out. Luckily for me I think my last few 'Stephanie inventions' worked pretty well, so I thought I would share them..

Mushroom Potato and and Garlic Soup

Ingredients:3 Potatoes1 OnionAbout 10 mushrooms 1 Zucchini4-5 cloves of garlicA few sage leavesDried about 1/8 cup dried parsleyVegetable broth (about 2-3 cups) About 1 teaspoon of saltAbout 1 teaspoon of pepperCut the potatoes, and onions into little chunks. Dice up the garlic.Warm up some olive oil in a deep skillet, add the potatoes, onion and garlic into the skillet and heat through until just soft.Dice up the mushrooms and zucchini, and add these and the potato mixture into a crockpot. Add in the broth, and the herbs, salt and pepper. Mix together and cook in the crockpot on high for about 4 hours, or low for about 6 hours. Blend with a blender, and serve hot with crusty bread. You can change any part of this according to your taste:) I love to experiment with different ingredients and seasonings:)I liked the mushroom and garlic flavors mixed together, and I really think the sage went well with the other ingredients. Vegetable Chilli

Ingredients:About 5 potatoesSpaghetti SquashHalf an onion2 cloves of garlic1 or 2 cans of mixed beans1 big can of stewed tomatoes2 cups of vegetable broth (add more if you think it needs it) Crushed red pepperCayenne PepperSaltPepper

Peel and cut up the potatoes, the spaghetti squash, and onion into relatively small chunks. Mix together in a crockpot.Chop up the garlic, add to the crockpot. Add in the beans with their juice, and the stewed tomatoes.Add in about 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Add in about 2 cups of water, or more if necessary. Cook on high for about 4 hours, or low for about 6 hours. This one is not blended, so serve hot with crusty bread.

You can adapt this to your own tastes, which is one of the great things about chilies! I loved the texture of the squash in this recipe, it was a little crunchy, and went well with the softer potatoes. I preferred the stewed tomatoes, because I'm not keen on chunks of canned tomatoes, but if you prefer chunks, then add in chunky tomatoes instead of stewed.Green Tomato Soup

We had many green tomatoes left over from the summer/autumn season, which didn't get chance to ripen, to I made them into a tangy soup! I also added lots of our poblano peppers which we also grew. Ingredients:Green tomatoes (at least 6, but the more the merrier, as long as they fit in the crockpot!)One or two red tomatoes (Although I think the recipe would be fine without them)1/2 an onionAbout 3 cups of peppers (As I said, we used poblano peppers, which are a little spicy/tangy, but not much. You could try any pepper variety, or mix up some more spicy ones with some bell peppers) 2 garlic clovesAbout 2 cups of vegetable broth 1/4 teaspooon of salt and pepper

Chop up the tomatoes, onion, peppers, into small chunks and add them into the crockpot. Dice up the garlic and add to the mixture. Add in the vegetable broth, the salt and pepper, and any other herbs and spices.Cook in the crockpot for about 4 hours on high and 6 hours on low. Serve hot with bread.

Very adaptable recipe. I'm sure many other herbs and spices would go well in this too:) I really liked the tangy taste in this recipe, I wasn't expecting it:)

Quinoa with Vegetables

Ingredients:2 cups of quinoa 1/2 an onion2 cloves of garlic1 bell pepperA few of handfuls of fresh kaleA few handfuls of fresh spinachSoy sauceSalt and pepper. Cook quinoa as packet directs, with 2 cups of water to 2 cups a quinoa. It takes about 20-25 minutes to cook. Chop up the onion and garlic, melt some butter or olive oil in a deep skillet, and add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Chop up the pepper, and add to the onion mix, cooking on a medium heat until the pepper has softened. Add in the salt, pepper, and about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, or according to taste. Add in the spinach and kale, and gently mix until the leaves have wilted.Add the cooked quinoa to the vegetables, mix together, and serve warm.

The quantities of spinach and kale can be increased easily, as the leaves will wilt down. Also, other ingredients could include blackbeans, or another type of bean, or even a handful of seeds.Banana Raisin BreadI've made a few banana breads recently, and I think this one is my favorite so far:)

Soak the raisins in a bowl of warm water, covering them. Mix together the mashed banana and the applesauce in a large bowl. Add in the cinnamon and all spice.In a small bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg mixture to the banana mixture, and mix together. Slowly add in the flour, mixing it together as you add more. Drain the raisins and dry as best you can with a paper towel.Add the raisins to the mixture, and mix well.Pour the mixture into an 8x4 inch baking pan greased with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

This
is my favorite so far because of the juicy grapes added into the bread.
It is quite healthy for a banana bread, with only a little added
sugar.

Well, there we have my selection of little recipes. Pretty simple, very adaptable, and rather yummy if I do say so myself:)